


A Medic's Patient

by bonesofether



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Lost Light, M/M, MTMTE, dratchet - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2019-06-22 05:09:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15574470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonesofether/pseuds/bonesofether
Summary: As the Lost Light continues onward, two particular inhabitants of the ship find themselves spending more and more time together.





	A Medic's Patient

**Author's Note:**

  * For [coralus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/coralus/gifts).



> This is a little gift-fic for coralus. It's some domestic, Dratchet fluff with a bit of smut in a later chapter for good measure. Enjoy!

Swerve’s bar was sparsely populated and relatively quiet, which was exactly how Ratchet preferred it. And while he would have preferred complete peace and quiet after the day he’d had, the medic also didn’t want the resident chatterbox Swerve feeling ignored. So he was begrudgingly grateful for the fact that Rewind and Chromedome were also there to help keep the minibot’s attention.

Ventilating a slow sigh, Ratchet looked down to the drink he had been slowly nursing. He’d asked Swerve for something strong to take the edge off. What the medic hadn’t asked for was to get something that could possibly render him comatose if he drank it too fast. But that was what he’d gotten, and so Ratchet had had to take his time, whether he wanted to or not.

Leaning back in his seat, the medic subconsciously flexed his free hand. It still felt a little odd to not have to worry about his hands seizing up at any random moment, but it was a good sort of odd. So long as Ratchet didn’t focus too long on where the replacement hands had come from, of course.

“Long day, huh?”

Looking up, Ratchet saw Drift standing across the table from him. The white and red mech appeared to have gotten their own drink and walked up to the table without the medic noticing.

“You could say that,” Ratchet muttered.

“Did you want company?” Drift ventured, motioning to the empty seat in front of him. “Or…?”

For a moment, Ratchet thought over the prospect of Drift’s company. He had come to the bar to try and get away from the rest of the crew, if only for a few minutes. Even so…

“Go ahead,” the medic stated shortly, nodding to the seat.

His grin widening a little, Drift promptly sat down. He took a quick sip of his drink before unsubspacing a datapad. Immediately clicking it on, Drift looked over the illuminated screen before turning his gaze up to Ratchet’s questioning one.

“Small collection of Primus-centric poetry,” he explained, waving the datapad briefly.

“Why am I not surprised?” Ratchet grumbled, even though there was no denying the small grin that tugged at one corner of his mouth.

“I can think of a few reasons, but I’ll keep them to myself.” Upon noticing Ratchet’s somewhat disgruntled expression, Drift tilted his helm to one side inquisitively. “Rough day?”

“You could say that.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Hm…” Ratchet mulled over the offer, but then shook his helm and waved a hand. “Not really. I’ll just leave it at I should not have to threaten bodily harm in order to get people to show up for their checkups.”

“I…” Drift blinked quickly a couple of times as he process what the medic had just told him. Personally, he thought that aforementioned bodily harm was a bit counterintuitive, but something told him it would be a bad idea to point that out to Ratchet. So he opted for a more neutral reply. “I guess that would motivate people.”

“Certainly didn’t stop the complaining, though,” Ratchet grumbled, taking another drink.

The two sat in uncomfortable silence for a short stretch. Ratchet continued to sip at the drink he had in hand while Drift sat there awkwardly, still holding the datapad. Finally, when it beeped at him, Drift thought of something. He immediately perked up and his grin returned. The reaction did not go unnoticed by Ratchet, and the medic quirked a helm ridge inquiringly.

“Remember something?”

“I did. In fact, it’s something that even you might appreciate,” Drift said, a sly smile already starting to spread across his features.

“Pray tell. What is it?” Ratchet asked dryly.

“Now, if I did that, it’d spoil the surprise. However, I can say that it’s pretty secluded and guaranteed peace and quiet. You wouldn’t have to worry about any disgruntled, would-be patients coming to pay you a visit.”

The last sentence made Ratchet look up and his cerulean gaze studied Drift closely. The white and red mech was still smiling smugly, and had even gone so far as to rock back and forth in their seat a little. It was as if they knew that they’d offered something that would snag the medic’s attention.

“You seem awfully proud of yourself.”

“Hm, maybe.” Drift tilted his helm to one side. “So? Do you want to go see or not?”

Ratchet purposefully thought over the offer for longer than it took. He wanted to let Drift keep wondering about his response. For a little while, at least. Even so, judging by the mech’s smug expression, Ratchet had a suspicion that they already knew that they’d won.

“Fine,” he finally stated flatly. “Let me finish my drink and then let’s see if this place is as good as you say it is.”

Immediately brightening up, Drift relaxed back in his seat and began working to finish off his own drink while reading the poetry that he’d brought with him. He seemed quite proud of himself, and even if it may have been a little annoying, Ratchet couldn’t help but smile inwardly. If there was one thing that Drift didn’t lack, it was enthusiasm.

 

* * *

 

“Just where exactly are we going?” Ratchet asked as he glanced around the hallway. It was unusually empty, compared to the rest of the ship.

“You’ll see,” Drift assured. “Pretty sure only a few people know about this spot. And three of them are accounted for.”

Frowning in confusion, Ratchet decided to stay quiet. Drift seemed determined to keep the location a secret until the last mome. So the medic saw no reason to keep trying to prying for details that he wasn’t going to get.

Drift suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway, looking up at the ceiling. After barely avoiding bumping into the mech, Ratchet turned his gaze upwards as well. As far as he was concerned, it looked like a regular set of ceiling panels and cabling.

“Hmm… It should be around here...somewhere,” Drift murmured quietly, shuffling forward a few paces. He suddenly perked up, obviously finding what he was looking for. “Ahah!”

Watching with a puzzled expression, Ratchet stepped back as Drift jumped up and snagged a small, inconspicuous handle on one of the panels. The handle itself was small enough that it was easy to miss unless someone was specifically looking for it. As soon as Drift managed to snag his digits around the handle, the panel pulled down easily...and brought a ladder along with it.

“An escape hatch? You brought me all the way to show me an escape hatch?” Ratchet asked, unimpressed.

“Not the escape hatch,” Drift replied with a roll of his optics. “But where the escape hatch leads to.”

“I’m going to assume that this would have a more practical use if there was actually a threat in this hallway.”

“Oh, hush and just follow me.”

With that, Drift began lithely climbing up the ladder. Ratchet watched them until they had disappeared all the way up into the ceiling. He briefly considered going back to the bar, but he knew what it would be like in there. At least wherever Drift was taking him had the chance of being a better location.

So, with a grumbled sigh, Ratchet followed after Drift. He wasn’t too surprised to see that the escape hatch bypassed the ventilation systems. What was interesting, though, was how cold the way up. Normally, the heat that the ship generated was enough to keep even the most obscure of escapeways at least somewhat warm.

It wasn’t until the medic got to the top of the ladder that he realized that Drift had already opened the door at the top. The white and red mech was smiling down at him with a backdrop of the starry skies.

“Come on,” Drift coaxed, motioning for Ratchet to continue.

Before the medic could reply, Drift stepped away and disappeared. Not wanting to remain on the ladder, Ratchet went ahead and hurried up the last bit. As he carefully climbed out of the hatch, he was greeted by a unexpectedly bright glow. It took a moment for his optics to adjust, and when they finally did, Ratchet found himself looking at quite the impressive sight.

It was a planet, a small, snow-covered one judging by the white coating and patches of thick cloud cover. The light reflecting off of it from one of the nearby suns illuminated the planet to give it a shimmering, silvery aura. For a moment, Ratchet just stood there, silently appreciating the view. And it was only when Drift spoke up that the medic was pulled from his thoughts.

“See? Isn’t this a better view?” the mech asked, now seated a short ways away from the escape hatch door.

“I have to admit, that it is,” Ratchet replied.

“Rodimus had mentioned that we were going to be flying by this planet, and I thought it might make for a nice view.”

“And I was the first one you thought of to bring along with you?” Ratchet asked, quirking a helm ridge.

Drift perked up for a moment before blushing and glancing away, twiddling his digits quickly. He looked as though he was going to say something, but never quite seemed able to find his voice. Ratchet just chuckled shortly and walked over to sit down beside Drift. He couldn’t help but notice that they blushed a little more, but the medic didn’t comment on it.

Instead, Ratchet turned his attention back to the breathtaking view in front of them. He decided to give Drift a few moments to compose themselves before speaking. Fortunately, it didn’t take too long, because from the corner of his optic, Ratchet was able to see Drift noticeably relax and look back to the planet as well.

“Yes,” Drift finally answered belatedly but firmly. “Yes, you were.”

“Huh… That so?”

Drift fidgeted a little, but Ratchet didn’t miss the small, yet sincere, smile that spread across the other mech’s features when they nodded.

“Yes, it is,” Drift said softly.

Ventilating a slow sigh and relaxing back a little, using his hands to brace himself, Ratchet let his gaze slowly trace along the details of the planet before them. He didn’t mind when Drift lightly set their own hand atop his. Nor he say anything in regards to it.

Instead…

“Thank you, Drift,” Ratchet replied, gently interlacing his digits with Drift’s. “I’m glad that you did.”


End file.
